Awards Given to Rivers Alliance

2017

Margaret Miner is the new Bud Foster Awardee

Rivers Alliance Executive Director Margaret Miner is the new Bud Foster Awardee for the Connecticut River Conservancy's (formerly CT River Watershed Council) 65th River Celebration. The celebration is on Saturday, June 17, at the Riverfront Recapture Boathouse in Hartford.

Each year EPA New England recognizes individuals and groups in the six New England states who have worked to protect or improve the region's environment in distinct ways. The merit awards, given out since 1970, honor individuals and groups who have shown particular ingenuity and commitment in their efforts.

"We are proud to honor those citizens, businesses and organizations who have gone the extra mile to help protect and preserve our region's natural resources," said Curt Spalding, regional administrator of EPA's New England office. "These New England award winners are committed to making our towns, cities and countryside of New England healthy, vibrant places with clean air, land and water."

The Environmental Merit Awards, which are given to people who have already taken action, are awarded in the categories of individual; business (including professional organizations); local, state or federal government; and environmental, community, academia or nonprofit organization. Also, each year EPA presents lifetime achievement awards for individuals.

In nominating Margaret Miner, US Sen. Chris Murphy called her "a true champion of the planet." ... Miner has been executive director of the Rivers Alliance of Connecticut, a non-profit that protects rivers and streams in Connecticut by promoting sound river-conservation policies and helping watershed protection groups statewide. Miner has spent numerous days walking the legislature's hall, going from meeting to meeting to testify on legislation affecting the environment. Miner is an environmental activist who provides advice and guidance on a range of environmental policy.

Under Miner's leadership at the Rivers Alliance, Connecticut in 2005 passed vanguard legislation requiring the state to adopt flow standards for all rivers and streams. In 2011, the first phase of the flow regulation was adopted. And in 2014, the state for the first time passed a law requiring comprehensive water planning. The Rivers Alliance is fully participating in the statewide water planning process and has extended its goals to the protection of both quantity and quality in headwaters and ground water. In addition, the Alliance helped found the State Lands Working Group, which protects conserved lands.

During her years as director, Rivers Alliance has run conferences twice a year, maintained a webpage of conservation news and been a clearinghouse for information on creating and using water trails in Connecticut. With Miner at the helm, the Rivers Alliance has helped individuals and organizations trying to protect the state's waters, often fighting city hall. The organization's helpline guides individuals and groups striving to protect water resources.

EPA’s Environmental Lifetime Merit Award is an award that recognizes outstanding environmental advocates who have made significant contributions toward preserving and protecting our natural resources over a number of years. Senator Chris Murphy nominated you.

This award will be presented at a special ceremony to be held at Faneuil Hall in Boston, MA on Tuesday, May 10, 2016, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Prior to the ceremony, award recipients and guests are invited to a reception at 12:00 pm in the Faneuil Hall Militia Room. This annual ceremony has recognized the environmental achievements of New Englanders for more than four decades.

Again, congratulations, and, on behalf of the EPA, thank you for your outstanding work toward improving and preserving the quality of our environment. We look forward to seeing you on Tuesday, May 10, 2016.

In 1964 the White Memorial Foundation established its Conservation Award to honor an individual or group who has made a significant contribution to the environment.

Each year their Board considers possible candidates, and we are honored that Rivers Alliance of Connecticut was chosen as the 2016 recipient of the White Memorial Foundation Conservation Award. In their letter informing us of the decision, Executive Director Keith Cudworth said: "Based on what the Alliance has accomplished and continues to address, our Board could not think of a group that better exemplifies what this award stands for."

The Conservation Award was presented at the White Memorial Foundation's Annual Dinner, Friday, May 6, 2016.

2015

Margaret Miner Receives 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award from CACIWC

Margaret Miner, executive director of Rivers Alliance of Connecticut, was presented with the 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Connecticut Association of Conservation and Inland Wetlands Commissions (CACIWC). A handsome plaque was publicly delivered to Ms. Miner by Rivers Alliance director and CACIWC member Martin Mador (left in photo) at the Rivers Alliance annual meeting on December 2. Mr. Mador told the audience that the award was in recognition of Rivers Alliance’s work protecting state waters. (At right in photo is CACIWC member Tom Odell.)

The Pomperaug River Watershed Coalition (PRWC) has announced that Rivers Alliance Executive Director Margaret Miner, of Roxbury, CT, is the first-year recipient of The Dr. Marc J. Taylor Environmental Stewardship Award. The award presentation will be held on June 13 at PRWC’s Annual Benefit at The Mill House Antiques and Gardens in Woodbury.

Dr. Taylor, a former board member of Rivers Alliance who passed away in June of 2012, is remembered as a highly respected and compassionate physician, educator, and environmental leader. It was in his retirement from the medical profession that Dr. Taylor turned his keen intellect and calm demeanor toward fostering coalition-based solutions for the benefit of the environment. In 1999, Dr. Taylor and a group of his peers founded the Pomperaug River Watershed Coalition to study the quality and quantity of water in the Pomperaug watershed, a 90-square-mile area that touches eight towns in western Connecticut. With science at its core and education as its hallmark, PRWC works with watershed towns, regulatory agencies, environmental organizations, and community volunteers to continue Dr. Taylor's legacy in stewarding the local water resources.

PRWC’s Board of Directors established this award in 2015 to further recognize Marc for his countless environmental stewardship contributions. John Lacadie, PRWC Board Chairman, emphasized that, “in selecting Margaret for this award, PRWC is appreciatively acknowledging her as an individual who has demonstrated similar outstanding dedication and leadership for the conservation of natural resources. We know that Marc would have been as extremely pleased as we are with recognizing Margaret for her environmental accomplishments locally and at the state and federal level.”

Besides being Rivers Alliance's Executive Director, Margaret is Vice Chairman of the CT Water Planning Council Advisory Group and advocates on behalf of numerous environmental organizations throughout the state. Among the many who endorsed Margaret for this award was Lori Brown, executive director of the CT League of Conservation Voters. In her comments Lori stated: “Marc and Margaret worked together for decades on behalf of the environment. Together, they made amazing progress to improve laws that today help protect the quality and quantity of Connecticut’s precious water resources and the life they support.”

2014

Friends of the Lake Annual Partnership Award

Friends of the Lake (FOTL) has given its annual Partnership Award for 2014 jointly to Margaret Miner, Executive Director of Rivers Alliance of Connecticut, and attorney Roger Reynolds, legal director at Connecticut Fund for the Environment. The two advocates have been working together with the lake group to promote better sewage treatment, especially phosphorus removal, in a number of municipalities. FOTL, based in Bridgewater, is a nonprofit organization protecting Lake Lillinonah, which receives wastewater from Danbury. The organization uses some of the most sophisticated monitoring technology in New England; and its staff, members, and volunteers include experts in ecology, law, boating, fishing, and the always needed debris removal. FOTL handed out a number of awards at its festive annual meeting on August 21, with speakers from the Steering Committee including the group's high-energy leader Jeffrey Silverman (who described Ms. Miner as "a fighting machine") and program manager Greg Bollard, who also apparently doesn't need sleep.

At the 15th annual Connecticut Greenways Awards Ceremony, which took place on June 6, 2014, at Goodwin College, Susan Whalen, deputy commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, and Bruce Donald, chairman of the Connecticut Greenways Council, presented 10 awards to groups and individuals for their dedication to the development of Connecticut’s greenways. The final award presented, the Lifetime Achievement Award, went to Margaret Miner, the executive director of Rivers Alliance of Connecticut. Ms. Miner and Rivers Alliance were recognized for work on river protection and promotion of blueways, specifically Rivers Alliance’s Connecticut Water Trails website.

The Rivers Alliance Water Trails Program site, www.ctwatertrails.org, is a one-stop hub for information on water trails and paddling opportunities in Connecticut. It connects the many groups that maintain and protect water trails to people interested in paddling the state’s many scenic waterways. The site promotes the use and appreciation of our waters with an interactive map presenting paddling locations across the state, as well as safety, events, and guidance information.

Also in a leading role at the ceremony was Laurie Giannotti, who coordinates the National Recreational Trails Program for CT DEEP, a source of funding for the CT Water Trails program and greenways in general. Attendees commented that the ceremony was full of positive energy demonstrating a bright future for Connecticut’s greenways.